Germanist

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who studies the Germanic languages, the associated literatures and/or cultures. dated
  2. 2
    a specialist in the study of Germanic language or culture or literature wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who specializes in the German language, literature and/or culture of the German-speaking world.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Pertaining to the school of thought which downplays or denies the continuity of legal and cultural institutions between Rome and later medieval Europe, highlighting the role of external influences and innovation in the decline of the Roman Empire.

    "The Germanist view also led to the description of post-Roman lawcodes as Germanic law, and, in archeology, to the new types of rural settlement which replaced the old Roman villas being called 'Germanic', and to the new burial forms, like furnished inhumation (with grave-goods), similarly being ascribed to Germanic influence."

Example

More examples

"The Germanist view also led to the description of post-Roman lawcodes as Germanic law, and, in archeology, to the new types of rural settlement which replaced the old Roman villas being called 'Germanic', and to the new burial forms, like furnished inhumation (with grave-goods), similarly being ascribed to Germanic influence."

Etymology

Borrowed from German Germanist, along the model of earlier English Romanist (“scholar of Romance languages”). By surface analysis, German + -ist, doublet of Germanicist.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.